A 21st Century Pulpit: The Barbershop
Barber tools equal clippers plus faith, wisdom to shape black males
Written by Sharon Tubbs
Micah Nunn sat in a barber’s chair recently to get his fade touched up, but he left the shop with something far more valuable:
A vision for his life.
“I see vision in a different way now,” the 16-year-old Wayne High School student said, contemplating his future.
Micah was among a group of teens and adults at Precision Cuts on a recent Saturday morning. There, speakers told clients, parents, and barbers that goals are key to success and God’s will for their lives. The shop, on S. Anthony Boulevard, was the first to host a new initiative dubbed “Barbershop Conversations.” The grassroots effort reaches out to black youth, especially boys and young men, with inspirational messages and practical tools.
Real estate broker Larry White encouraged teens to envision themselves being successful and living well—even if those dreams currently seem beyond their grasp.
“You don’t physically have to have it,” Micah said, offering his take on White’s message. “You have to just imagine it and go get it.”
The Barbershop Conversations program is an organized approach to what some barbers have done for years. Quietly, many say, they’ve been ministering to Fort Wayne’s young men, hoping to curb teen violence and guide them to meaningful lives.
“My barbershop is not just a place where you come and get a haircut,” says Trey Cato, owner of 2K Tight. “My barbershop is my pulpit.”
Cato, one of four planners organizing the effort, has been cutting hair for 26 years. The profession, he says, sets the stage for positive relationships in a setting that may be as popular as a church sanctuary these days.
“Everybody goes to the barbershop at some time in their lives,” Cato says, noting that even the President gets his hair cut. “Young people go to church when their friend dies. But before they go to the funeral, they go to the barbershop.”
“Crying out for help”
Today, Lewis A. King is an ordained minister, the director of Northeast Indiana Neighborhood Engagement, and the coordinator for Fort Wayne UNITED’s Ten Point Coalition, which strives to curb violence and provide resources for black boys and men.
But before all of that, King was a barber on Fort Wayne’s southeast side.
With clippers in hand, he listened to clients talk about their lives. “You’re hearing about family issues, lack of food, lack of clothing,” he said.
He knew what he had to do. “Ministry was always in my belly, even as a child,” he said.
King started a weekly Bible study that evolved into a sermon and a fellowship meal. On Sunday afternoons, 20 to 30 people crowded King’s Barbershop for dinner and a Word.
Some stopped by after attending regular church services, but many never went to traditional churches, King said. He knew his barbershop ministry was filling a void.
To really reach black teens, King said, “We all need to be working together, to meet gaps that are there.”
After more than two decades in the business, King no longer barbers. But the career is what compelled him to attend the seminary and get involved in other community organizations, he said.
Another barber, known as Foundation One, makes mentoring young men a priority inside his Unity Barber Shop and beyond. Too many need help but don’t get it. “We have to be a crutch to these young brothers,” he said.
In the barbershop, he hears it all. “A lot of young brothers are dealing with post-traumatic stress from losing loved ones out here,” he said. Some have expressed thoughts of suicide. “They’re crying out for help.”
Still others have more heinous ideas.
Four years ago, Foundation One was cutting a client’s hair while three of the young man’s friends sat around waiting on him. Foundation One overheard them discussing plans to kill someone. He talked to them, revealing the folly and consequences of their plot. He showed them letters from inmates he collected over the years, men who wished they could rewind time. He persuaded them to leave their guns at the shop, take some time to think things over. Ultimately, the boys called him a few days later and asked Foundation One to turn in their guns to police. He did just that.
Today, Foundation One said, “The brothers, they’re still here, and the brothers they wanted to kill are still here.”
But a barber’s work continues. Foundation One mentors young men at the Allen County Juvenile Center where he also routinely conducts a 10-week anger management program.
That’s where he met a particular 14-year-old several weeks ago. The middle school student was locked up for resisting arrest and violating parole. After his release, Foundation One began spending time with him, picking him up, taking him to the barbershop on Pontiac Street after school. Hanging out there, the teen escapes the lure of the streets.
Over the phone at Unity last week, he admitted recently quitting a local gang. Talks with Foundation One instilled in him this word of caution:
“I need to respect my mother,” he said, “or I’m going to end up dead or in jail.”
Been there, done that
Back at Precision Cuts, co-owner Anthony Washington was glad to be on the new Barbershop Conversations team. Washington, Cato and Juan Williams are the three barbers currently involved. They’ve been planning the venture for months with Joyce Caldwell, a youth ministry volunteer at Come As You Are Community Church. The concept originated with Caldwell, who then approached barbers she knew for input and implementation.
The plan is to rotate from one shop to the next each month, and the team hopes more barbers will participate. The events involve refreshments and guest speakers who talk about different topics. Vision was the topic for February. Future conversations may include information about job resources, mental health, trade schools, money management, etc. Barbers expect the events to draw youth, but the impact will linger within the shops after guest speakers leave.
Caldwell likes the idea of mingling practical information with inspirational guidance. “Our young men seem to have no hope,” she said. She wants them to dig deep and discover their God-given gifts. “Whatever their passion, God already has the plan for them,” she said. “But they can’t follow it unless they have the playbook, which is the Bible.”
Local barbers may be in a perfect position to offer some real-life plays for success. Many say they, too, once strayed and don’t mind telling youth how they found their way.
“I come down to where they’re at,” Cato said. “Yeah, I did that when I was your age,” he tells them.
Williams isn’t afraid to talk about spending time in prison for armed robbery. Behind bars, he thought about ways to use his life “for the glory of God.” He also came up with the idea to establish WeFAM, a nonprofit that raises funds and offers vouchers for free haircuts. Once released, he put those ideas into action. Today he owns Art Cut Techs Barbershop on E. State Boulevard, and WeFAM distributes vouchers for free haircuts to boys who sign up for Barbershop Conversations.
Boys are getting bullied, dropping out of school, and losing their way, Williams said. “My dream is to uplift the self-esteem of some of our young men in the black community.”
At Precision Cuts, Winston Pearson was one of three speakers who gave a brief talk. He told about doing jail time before heeding God’s call. Today Pearson is pastor of the Church of Jesus in Fort Wayne.
“Don’t get weary,” he said, quoting several Bible verses. “The vision will come to pass. But while you’re waiting, prepare for it.”
Elena Barnes nodded in agreement. “I don’t have a church home right now,” she said later, so she welcomed the dose of barbershop inspiration.
She came to the event after signing up her 14-year-old son, Demarion Herron, for a free haircut voucher.
“It’s inspiring,” she said afterward. “I think that’s what they (young boys) need, some motivation.”
Demarion’s friend Za’Quan Gary tagged along. The speakers left an impression, stirring his thoughts about goals. The 15-year-old said three things came to mind: going to the Army, finding a cure for cancer, or working in the engineering field, possibly around computer science. Speakers stressed the importance of writing down plans for the future.
“I was thinking,” Za’Quan said, “I should write in my phone what I want to do.”
For more information about Barbershop Conversations, contact the participants at their barbershops: Anthony Washington at Precision Cuts, Trey Cato of 2K Tight, or Juan Williams at Art Cut Techs.
Sharon Tubbs is an author, speaker, and communications specialist. She writes issue-related stories for the Fort Wayne Ink Spot. She can be reached at SharonTubbs@msn.com.
Photos:
Micah Nunn, center, poses with guest speakers Larry White, left, and Winston Pearson after the first Barbershop Conversations event
this month.
Trey Cato shapes up his grandson, Christopher, while his son, Christian, watches at Cato’s 2K Tight Barbershop
Juan Williams, WeFAM Founder
